Epic Games Store database launches out of nowhere, immediately sparks hopes of a Final Fantasy 9 remake, Red Dead Redemption PC port, and so much more before going down
Epic has since revoked third-party tool access to "unpublished products"
Update: Epic has claimed it has blocked third-party tools from accessing "unpublished product titles" from the Epic Games Store itself.
"We released an update so third-party tools can’t surface any new unpublished product titles from the Epic Games Store catalog," Epic tells GamesRadar+ in a new statement. Obviously, Epic's statement doesn't confirm or deny if any of the alleged discoveries earlier today are in fact unannounced games, or merely abandoned projects.
The original article follows below.
Original: A supposed Epic Games Store database tracker has given Final Fantasy 9 and Red Dead Redemption fans renewed hope for re-releases.
As ResetEra first picked up on, EpicDB just became public over the last day. The site is the equivalent of what SteamDB is for the Epic Games Store - a tracker that accesses backend data for private projects that publishers and developers alike are currently working on in some capacity.
The database (before it went offline) revealed two key projects: 'Semla' under Rockstar Games, and 'Momo' under Square Enix. These are just codenames for the apparently in-development projects, so it'd be easy to pass them off at first glance as nothing noteworthy.
A lot of people are now speculating that the Semla project is none other than the original Red Dead Redemption, which never received a PC listing. The main source of speculation for this appears to be the project's file size - at 10.30GB, that's a damn sight smaller than more recent Rockstar games. There's no concrete information to suggest that this is actually Red Dead Redemption, but that hasn't stopped the rampant speculation all the same.
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The Momo listing for Square Enix as a Final Fantasy 9-related project is actually based on more relative information. Several items are linked to the project, including a pre-order bonus of the 'Tetra Master Starter Pack,' which points to Final Fantasy 9's in-game Tetra Master mini-game. It's also speculated that the 'Thief’s Knives' pre-order bonus could be related to protagonist Zidane.
These new listings have brought a lot of hope back for communities that have had plenty of reason to be excited over the last few years. Back in 2021, Nvidia leaked the existence of Final Fantasy 9 remake, in a listing the company later called "speculative," while a Red Dead Redemption PC port was datamined from Rockstar's own launcher site just last month in May. It's a far cry from confirmation, but it's nonetheless added fuel to the speculative fires.
Take a look at our new games 2024 guide for an overview of all the games we know are a sure thing.
Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.